Amid reports that private traders have started buying cotton in open market from farmers at prices ranging between Rs. 4000 and Rs. 4500 a quintal Maharashtra cotton federation has been demanding the Govt. to raise cotton MSP @ Rs.6000/-as against Rs.3300/- ,Bhartiya Kisan Sabha(BKS) main left wing farmers union along with farmactivists and economistin the field will be meeting on October 13 at Wani in Yavtmal district ,place known as farmers suicides capital of India where they will wok out a strategy on future agitation as more than 3 million dry land cotton farmershave already lost cotton crop over 2 million hector ,Kishore Tiwari of cotton farmers’ advocacy groupVidarbha Janandolan Samiti who is supporting proposed cotton conclave informed in press realease today.

Cotton is the biggest cash crop grown in Vidarbha region and some parts of Marathwada and Khandesh. The price the crop gets decides the fate of three million families in the state which has the largest area under cotton crop in the country.

The Centre and the state government have indicated that they would not be in a position to pay more than Rs. 3300 a quintal as the minimum procurement price, a rate fixed two years ago. But farmers’ pressure groups like Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, which is one of participant of the conference, say the price is unfair as input costs have gone up in the last two years and so is the spiraling inflation, Demanding the domestic support price be hiked to Rs 4500, he said such a step could improve the state’s economy too as it depends a lot on cotton said Tiwari.

The Maharashtra State Cotton Grower’s co-operative federation which once managed the unique monopoly cotton purchase scheme but now plays the role of commission agent for the central agency NAFED has put very strong demand of cotton growers by challenging the CACP decision of keeping cotton MSP @ Rs.3300 and urged Govt. to start cotton procurement @ Rs.6000 from start of season in the state which likely to commence from 24th October but there is no positive response to this appeal hence farmers will decide future course of agitation ,Mohan Jadhav Farm activist further added..